Month: June 2015

Will anything change…? Has anything changed since Aurora’s Century Theater, Newtown’s Sandy Hook, Blacksburg’s Virginia Tech, Tucson’s Safeway (ironic) or Memphis’ Lorraine Motel? What does occur is lots of talking heads giving repeated commentary but action is needed as it speak louder than words. Have we addressed our gun accessibility or racist concerns? Are politicians even using the right words to describe this heinous, racist, gun violent attack? What is the threshold that will change our society? If the murder of kids, preachers and civil rights leaders isn’t a tipping point.. then what will motivate us to take action. Certainly, a courageous congress willing to do the right thing would be a good start.

In Memory

From ages 26 to 87, nine lives and souls were stolen from their family and friends due to brainwashed hatred. May their spirits and memories bring justice to this evil act to help prevent further senseless bloodshed.

Reverend Clementa Pinckney, age 41, was a State Senator and the senior pastor of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Cynthia Hurd, age 54, was a dedicated library manager.

Reverend Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, age 45, was a pastor, a speech therapist and a high school sports coach.

Tywanza Sanders, age 26, was a recent graduate with a degree in Business Administration.

Ethel Lance, age 70, was a mother, a grandmother and a custodian at the church.

Susie Jackson, age 87, was the cousin of Ethel Lance and a regular member of the church.

Depayne Middleton Doctor, age 49, was a mother of four and sang in the church choir.

Reverend Daniel Simmons, age 74, received a Purple Heart from the Vietnam War.

Myra Thompson, age 59, had received her licence to the Ministry shortly before she was murdered.

12 Stars and 2 Stripes

One thing that might change, yet should have years ago, is the removal of the Confederate Flag. Southern Governors are finally jumping on the Flag Removal bandwagon only after years of debates with flag waving “Southern Pride” that has kept the racist symbol flying high to this day. Its beyond tardy that this past evil relec be buried along with the racism it represents. Bravo to Walmart, Amazon, Sears, Ebay and others from pulling all merchandise from their sales stock with any confederate flag emblems. Shame on Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina and Louisiana for having laws on their books protecting the confederate flag. Bravo to California for their ban on sales or displays of the confederate flag. For more info on this racist symbol, check out this PBS article

Shame on the UN (as usual) for lumping Israel in with the terrorist organization Hamas when condemning last year’s Gaza War. Israel was purely defending herself (as usual) against those who want her wiped off the face of the earth. Israel has the ability to completely annihilate Gaza but took careful measures to insure that last year’s protective maneuvers would avoid casualties. They sent warning notices and fired targeted attacks strictly at the source of their rockets and terrorist. Where is the UN’s condemnation that Hamas’ Rockets were purposely situated near schools and hospitals and were aimed at Israeli citizenry? Where is condemnation that supplies meant to help build their infrastructure was used to build terror tunnel? If Hamas had the same powers as Israel, they won’t hesitate to annihilate the Jewish Homeland. The snowball is rolling since now, Palestinians will use this bias report to file war crimes against Israel at the Hague International Criminal Court. Israel, like every country is not perfect but the inordinate attacks on our tiny democratic Jewish homeland is constant, disproportional and despicable.

Olive Branch

Where are the eyes on Israel when she opens her borders for Ramadan (this week) allowing 90,000 Muslims (from Gaza and the West Bank) to pray on the Temple Mount. The IDF and Israeli police secured the area so it could be a peaceful space for prayer. Israel would want nothing more than to allow these peaceful moments to endure but why are the borders closed? For one reason only, to keep out terrorist and suicide bombers. Those who criticize Israel’s tight security forget the senseless bloodshed (daily) of innocent men, women and children at the hands of maniacal monsters. Until they love life more than they hate us (paraphrased per Golda), then the security status quo must continue. http://www.timesofisrael.com/over-90000-at-temple-mount-on-first-friday-of-ramadan/

Deal Deadline

With the June 30th deadline creeping up on the negotiations for the Iran Nuclear Deal, the Iranian supreme leader is throwing a monkey wrench into the “agreement”. He’s announced several restriction that are potential deal breakers for many. Former well respected American adviser raise serious doubt about a future deal in this open letter to the President: http://tinyurl.com/RossOpenLetter

Shame onChabad of Michigan

For needlessly pursuing and prolonging a property lawsuit against (smaller) Sara and Morris Tugman Bais Chabad Torah Center. This territorial fight has been going on for too many years with too much wasted time, energy and (donor) money in lawyer fees. On May 20th our Michigan Supreme Court ruled against Chabad of Michigan and instead of accepting that decision, they are going back again to the State Supreme Court to ask for reconsideration. Do we really need to fight against each other when we should be united to continue our collective work of Tikkun Olam.

Shame on Ben Affleck

For trying to “White Wash” his slave-owning ancestors out of his history on the PBS documentary series Finding Your Roots. This fact hiding attempt came to light during the Sony hacked email enlightenment. He was the only star to request the omission and PBS jobs will be lost due to their compliance. http://tinyurl.com/AffleckAncestors

The film “Love and Mercy” about the life of Brian Wilson is on the above list and in honor of Brian’s musical contributions, please enjoy this stellar BBC cover of “God Only Knows” with Pharrell, Elton, Stevie, Brian (himself) and many others. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqLTe8h0-jo

Wishing you and your loved ones a Sweet and Peaceful Shabbat Shalom,

Lisa

Michael Jackson

6 years ago this week the King of Pop died at the age of 50. Whether you loved him or not, there is no debate about the talent he possessed. Here is a new and entertaining tribute of a medley of his music by a capella group Pentatonix:

The award winning composer/conductor died in a solo plane crash at the age of 61. He was raised in a Jewish home and is survived by his wife and two daughters. He’s associated with some of the biggest hits in hollywood like Field of Dreams, Titanic, Avatar and this Film song made popular by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkI-B2JWSZI

Dick Van Patten

Father to (late 70s) Eight is Enough TV show watched regularly by many.

Please save the date of Aug. 18th if you’d like to help us support Senator Chuck Schumer on his re-election. Please email me if you’d like to attend and I’ll give you more details.

Good luck to Lon Johnson (current Michigan Dems. Party Chair) on his bid for the congressional seat of Michigan District #1 which is all of the Upper Peninsula and the northern part of the Lower Peninsula.

Good news for ObamaCare as the Supreme Court this week upheld the tax subsidy provision for those needing help to purchase health insurance.

Michigan Congress has sent a bill to Governor Snyder to (unfortunately) eliminate the Michigan Film Incentives and shutter the Film Office by 2018. Shortsightedness has led to this poor decision as our state has benefited greatly by the film industry through the last several years.

Michigan (with the blessing our of Sec. of State) will hopefully alter our Absentee Voting Restriction to a No-Reason request for ballots. Currently, you need a reason to vote early and absentee but making it easier will only increase our dismal voter turnout.

Bobby Jindal is the newest Republican to enter thePresidential Race. Here is the list so far. More depth into these candidates will follow in the months leading up to our 2016 election. And I’m sure this list will grow even longer.

The Big Apple consumed most of my week taking a bite out of my writing time so this Shabbat message will be a bit condensed. While in NYC we were grateful to witness 3 generations of Folk Singers and Peacemakers. It was a once in a lifetime experience to hear the musical blending of the legendary (91 year old) Theodore Bikel, the iconic Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary) and the brilliant David Broza. Throughout their lives and songs, they’ve brought messages of Peace and Harmony to our global community.Theodore (named after Herzl) moved to Palestine in 1938 where he started his theatrical career before moving to the States in 1954. He has portrayed Tevye more than 2,000 time and also co-founded the Newport Folk Festival with Pete Seeger and others. Peter (with Paul and Mary) marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma and DC. 15 years ago, Peter founded Operation Respect, to help combat bullying with a curriculum brought to schools and camps throughout this country and the world. The reason for our NYC visit was David’s Peacemaker Award given to him by the Lab/Shul for his talent, generosity and peacemaking efforts globally and specifically within Israel as evidence of his album East Jerusalem/West Jerusalem. It was a night we will treasure and remember.

Father’s Know Best

It’s time to pay tribute to the Patriarchs and “Fatherly” Heros of our Lives. Happy Father’s Day to all Dads, Abbas, Tateh (Yiddish), Baba (Turkish), Babbo (Italian) and Vader (Dutch), hence Darth Vader (Dark Father). The first Father’s Day was established in 1910 and President Nixon made it official in 1972 though it is not a federal holiday. There are an estimated 70 Million Fathers in our country and 200,000 of them are stay-at-home parents. Times are truly changing as traditional parenting roles are blurred and melded, though parenting today seems to becoming too intrusive. Those “helicopters” need to start hoovering into the distance so kids can again learn experiential independence.

Lessons from our Youth

Teaching in the reverse is evident in this wonderfulCyberSeniors initiative. Youth teach seniors how to use the internet to connect with each other and their families. The results are touching, humorous and meaningful so much so a documentary is in the works to showcase this phenomenon.

I hope your summer music plans bring joy and pleasure. Here is what’s on tap for my Summer.

Bette Midler last week at Palace

Enjoy this vintage 1973 UJA telethon performance of Bette singing my favorite song, Friends. FYI, if you are short on time, she does her schtick in the beginning and starts singing halfway through the youtube.

Condolences to the Nemer Family on the passing of Ilene Nemer z”l, mother to Larry and Rosalind Nemer, Ellen and David Maiseloff and the late Patti Nemer z”l. May Ilene’s memory and love be a blessing onto her family during their time of mourning.

Condolences to the family and friends of the nine innocent souls gunned down in Charlotte, NC by a hate filled racist bigot with easy access to a firearms. May the memories and spirit of those victims rise and reflect the need to bring love and understanding to misguided and brainwashed individuals.

The good, the bad and the ugly are coming out in droves to play in the political arena. There are now officially 12 Republican candidates and 15 Democratic candidates in the race. As the campaign heats up, more political discussion will be included in these Shabbat messages, but for now, we are all absorbing the humor and absurdity of the newest entry, and, apparently, his hair is real and attached.

And with more time next week, I will expand on Pope Francis’s efforts and initiatives to help save our planet…

All people deserve to be in a loving relationship and those who judge, discriminate and take action to prevent marriage equality should get off their high horses and take a hike. Israel doesn’t judge…in fact, this week it will embark on its 10th annual Tel Aviv/Jaffa Gay Pride Week attracting 100,000 participants. Gender Acceptance is this year’s theme so not surprisingly, they have invited Caitlin Jenner to attend. They are waiting for her response. The Tel Aviv beach and surrounding buildings are rainbow decorated with open arms to all.

US Embassy in Tel Aviv ready for Gay Pride Week

(thanks for the photo, Julie Fisher)

Heroes of Truth

During the Caitlin Jenner media frenzy, one man posted a WWII photo to counter what he thought heroism really meant. He then went on a quest to find the photographer of his hero photo and discovered a sad but compelling story. The photo was of one scene (of many) of a miniature recreation which is the passion of the photographer who started his photographic journey after being severely beaten because he is a cross-dresser. I know it’s a complicated ironic story but it is fascinating to see the circle of incidents surrounding true bravery. A documentary is in the works of the photographer, Mark Hogancamp .

Jerusalem has been (for millennia) and will always be the Heart, Soul and Capital of the Jewish People and the State of Israel. It is a sacred city shared by Jews, Christians and Muslims. One day, Jerusalem and Israel will be at Peace but for now the territory is in dispute… even on our US shores. On Monday the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the White House to prevent the Congress from requiring the State Department from printing Israel on US Passports for Americans born in Jerusalem, such as Menachem Binyamin Zivotofsky who was born there (to Americans) in 2002 and his parents want his US passport to state Israel as his Place of Birth, instead of Jerusalem, which is protocol. Even though Israel was legally partitioned by the UN in 1947 and West Jerusalem has been officially part of Israel since the 1948 establishment of the State, (the old city of) East Jerusalem was still off limits to Jews till 20 years later (during the Six-Day War*) when the Israel Defense Force captured theCity of Gold and opened it up to all religions. Fact: Jerusalem is not Occupied Territory. Israel officially declared Jerusalem its capital in 1950 but only (to this day) Guatemala and El Salvador accept this fact. Normally, in wars, when countries capture territory, they get to declare it theirs. When others (throughout history) conquered Jerusalem, many people (including Jews) were prevented from access yet when Israel controls the territory, all are free to pray and visit, yet despite these freedoms, the world still discriminates against Israel. Honestly, Constitutional Law is a foreign language to me so I truly can’t criticizes the decision other than to say that our Government (and the rest of the world) should respect and acknowledge Israel’s choice of her capital.

Tides against Israel are strong and rampant. Anti-semitism/Anti-Israel is constant. Many forget that nearly 1 Million Jews from Arab Countries were kicked out of their homes during the 1950s. Numerous entities continue to add their names to the BDS movement and this week enemies tried to force the UN to add Israel to the list of Children’s Rights Violators. Thankfully, Israel supporters lobbied to prevent this unfair acquisition about last summer’s Gaza War where Hamas used children and schools as their war shields just so they can accuse Israel of violations. Of course, Hamas should be on the list but they too were “excused”.

After 12 years of increased authoritarian steps, the voters of Turkey sent a message to their ruling Islamist leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, that his behavior is unacceptable. This is certainly good news for the region and the Turks. To give you a taste of this despicable man, he’s blamed many woes of his country on the Armenian Lobby, the Jewish Diaspora, Atheist and homosexuals and attempted to block all social media to his citizens . There will be no love-lost if this leader leaves. A coalition government must be formed in the next 45 days or elections will take place again. Good riddance…

Respectful Hero

This is guaranteed to bring you a smile. If you like Aretha and feisty little girls, you will love this youtube. It is worth the 2 1/2 minutes to watch the whole thing and check out what she does at the end. This girl is going places…

…to Serena Williams for her 20th Grand Slam with this week’s French Open win, inching closer to Steffi Graf’s 22 Grand Slam record.

…to American Pharoah for his Triple Crown win making him one of only 17 horses to reach this fete, bringing his Stud Fee close to $200,000 a pop. Want to see who would have won between Secretariat and American Pharoah? Check out this side by side Belmont Stakes race from then and now:

… to Fun House and Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time for their Tony wins last Sunday. The very talented Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming were a bit “Hit or Miss” during their hosting gig but 11 year old Sydney Lucas(Fun House) hit it out of the park:

And save the date for Saturday March 19th when Alan Cumming will perform here in Detroit for 313 Cabaret.

…to South Carolina for following Illinois’ footsteps by becoming the 2nd State to pass an anti-BDS bill. To remind you…BDS is Boycott, Divest, Sanction and it is a movement to delegitimize Israel but don’t take my word for it, listen to Alan Dershowitz explain it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTuTL8aCx6k

…to Birthright Israel for reaching its 1/2 million participant(sometime this summer) after 15 years of existence.

…to the Sela Charter School in Washington DC for offering an exceptional Hebrew and Israel education to this unlikely community. A movement of this type could help combat the global lies that lead to hatred of Israel and the Jewish people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM61trOmYpY&feature=youtu.be

Shame on…

… Diane Rehm for too easily believing internet lies about Bernie Sanders’ nationality of which is fully American and not a dual citizen of Israel.

… Those responsible for the death of Kalief Browder as he took his life while behinds bars at Rikers Island while languishing in solitary confinement without a conviction and insisting on his innocence of stealing a backpack.

The long overdue removal of Cuba from the US terrorist list brings our countries closer to normalizing relations leading the way for increased tourism and stronger diplomacy. The three remaining countries on the terror list are Syria, Sudan and Iran. Yet there is possible hope on the horizon regarding Iran with some Israeli military are cautiously optimistic about the Iranian deal. http://news.yahoo.com/israel-military-cautiously-upbeat-iran-nuclear-deal-083330296.html

After the Analysis

But Israel can’t afford to breath too easily since her compass of concern is still on high alert. In the South, Gaza is still shooting rockets (even this week) at civilians and continues to build more tunnels; In the North, Hezbollah in Lebanon is estimated to possess a stockpile of 100,000 rockets; And in theNortheast, after 4 years of civil war, the Syrian army is devastated and infested by Da’ash (ISIS). Israel has 360 degrees of concern though with the fish in the Mediterranean as her only friendly neighbors.

After 43 years

The long overdue memorial to the slain Israeli Olympic athletes will be breaking ground this year after decades of requests by the families and Israel. The memorial will be on the site of the athletes village where 11 Israelis were killed. And with a complete change of heart, the International Olympic Committee is even considering including a tribute during the opening ceremony for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro games.

The FIFA house of cards is collapsing fast and furiously. Corruption has infested the ranks for decades and the crimes are all coming to light. Shortly after winning the presidency (for the 5th time), Sepp Blatter resigned over the deep seated corruption. But the best episode this week involves their former Vice President Jack Warner who is now spilling the beans but tried to defend his actions by using a satirical article from the Onion Newspaper. Sadly the corruption has also lead to over 1,000 deaths as poor immigrants are forced to labor in the excessive Qatar heat to build the World Cup stadium. Qatar has got to be the worst place on Earth to host a World Cup and we know corruption greased the palms of the decision makers. In addition to their corrupt government, they have adverse relations with Israel so even though they made an exception for Israeli athletes to play in the games, Israeli fans wouldn’t be allowed to enter the country to watch the games. Here is a petition that will be sent to FIFA trying to revoke the 2022 World Cup decision.

After a brilliant 18 year old realized our ocean pollution problem, he set out to create an Ocean Cleansing System which will be deployed in 2016. There are 5 giant ocean patches of garbage that will be cleaned up in the decades following the introduction of his system. Here is an article and video if you’re interested in this issue:

I love this creative way actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson is trying to influence our Supreme Court Justices to make the right decision on Marriage Equality. The SCOTUS decision is due within the month so please check out Jesse’s action plan to sway their thoughts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53cSbzo419U

After miles of biking

Refuah Shlema (speedy recovery) to John Kerry as he broke his leg while biking in the French Alps though his recovery will not stall the Iranian discussion but this did not stop Iran from reporting bogus allegation that his injury was actually an assassination attempt.

Bravo to France for instituting a new law that requires Supermarkets to donate all leftover food they are unable to sell. We, here in the US, discard 43 billion pounds of food every year. Think how that amount of food would benefit the hungry of our society. Many wonderful agencies, like Forgotten Harvest and Gleaners, do rescue some of our uneaten food, but certainly these efforts could be quadrupled if grocery stores were required to donate their excesses.

As another crop of college grads will embark on their job hunt shackled to their enormous student debt, isn’t it time to reform our country’s collegiate financial situation? Proud that our ownSenator Gary Peters is helping to alleviate this debilitating situation for our college students.

After Billions of Wasted Dollars

Even Senator John McCain agrees that Citizens United is one of the worst decisions of SCOTUS (Supreme Court). It has unleashed the corruptible lobbying effort of millionaires and corporations to buy influence and waste money. Please keep this in mind when voting for our next president as they will have the power to appoint Justices who will or will not support efforts like Citizens United.

American Pharoah is not predicted to win the Belmont Stakes (Triple Crown) but his run so far is still miraculous. AP’s owner is Ahmed Zayat, a 52 year old orthodox Egyptian Jew who immigrated to the US at the age of 18. His father was Anwar Sadat’s physician and his grandfather was a famous Egyptian writer. Good luck to the Zayat family and American Pharoah.

After the Footlights

Break a Leg to all the Tony Nominees as the awards will be presented this Sunday.

Sunrise…Sunset; Swiftly through the…buildings. Neil degrasse Tyson discovered (with Stonehenge in mind) that 4 times a year, the sun sets between the Manhattan skyline and New Yorkers come out in droves to witness this phenom which took place this past week.

This week’s Musical Selections…

Don’t miss this awesome and hilarious ragtime rendition ofRoxanne by Fallon and Sting:

Condolences to the Biden family on the untimely passing of Beau Biden at the age of 46. May his political and military service, his devotion to his family and his spirit bring comfort to those who mourn his death.

It is the one year yahrzeit (Jewish calendar anniversary) of the 3 slain Israeli students, Naftali Frankel z”l, Gilad Shaar z”l, and Eyal Yifrach z”l. Their families, friends, the State of Israel, the Jewish Peoplehood and those who fight against terrorism reflect, remember and prayer for their souls. A young Arab Israeli, Mohammad Zoabi, also is reflecting on the horrors of that fateful day and I will let his words speak for all who strive for Peace on Earth.

“A year has passed already since June 2014. A year haspassed since that terrible month which changed the lives of many in this country, including my personal one.It was a time when we all, the people of Israel, despite our religious, political and ethnic differences were united under the same hope; The safe return of our boys to their families.That was until we heard the shocking news.

Eyal, Gilad and Naftali,we will never forget and never forgive those terrorists who took you away from us and from your families.

In addition to that, and as a moral nation, we will not forgive those Israelis who shamed us by taking the life of Mohammed Abu Khadir.

We all as Israelis, and as a nation that praises human life, say No to all types of terrorism!May they all rest in peace!Am Yisrael Chai”Mohammad Zoabi

Now through June 16th

Detroit Zoo Biodigester

Please join me in supporting this crowdfunder to raise matching funds to help build a Biodigester which will convert manure to energy.http://tinyurl.com/ZooBiodigester